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Trump’s Budget Cuts Some Agencies to Their Lowest Levels in Decades

President Trump’s 2018 budget blueprint released on Thursday proposes cuts in discretionary spending for most government agencies to pay for large increases in military spending.Related Article

Total discretionary budget

⬇︎–1.2%

$1.15 trillion, lowest in 15 years

Mr. Trump’s budget would slightly decrease overall discretionary spending, which makes up about a quarter of all federal spending and does not include large entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.All charts are adjusted for inflation and include supplemental funding, such as for war or emergencies, on top of each agency’s base budget. Many of the agency budgets show a spike in 2009, reflecting economic stimulus spending. That year’s budget was originally set under George W. Bush, and further increased under Barack Obama.

Defense

⬆︎+8.8%

$638.6 billion, highest in 6 years

Mr. Trump’s budget blueprint is centered on a 9 percent increase to military spending, including war funding. It would be the largest budget since 2012, when the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan was still near its peak.

Veterans Affairs

⬆︎+5.9%

$78.9 billion, highest in at least 40 years

The discretionary spending for the V.A., one of just three agencies that would receive increases under Mr. Trump’s plan, largely pays for health care and makes up less than half of the agency’s overall budget. It does not include benefit programs like pensions.

Health and Human Services

⬇︎–18%

$69 billion, lowest in 18 years

Does not include offsets from mandatory spending changes.

Health and Human Services would be cut significantly under Mr. Trump’s plan. It is one of several agencies that received significant stimulus money in 2009, explaining the increased spending that year.

Education

⬇︎–14%

$59 billion, lowest in 17 years

Homeland Security

⬆︎+7.3%

$51.5 billion, highest in 5 years

Homeland Security is the third agency that would receive a spending increase. Billions of dollars in disaster relief funding after Hurricane Katrina explain the spike in 2005.

State and other development programs

⬇︎–32%

$39.1 billion, lowest in 14 years

Includes money for the State Department (including supplemental war funding), the U.S. Agency for International Development, Treasury International Programs and the Food for Peace Title II Grant.

The State Department is one of the largest targets of Mr. Trump’s spending cuts, taking an $18 billion hit.

Housing and Urban Development

⬇︎–15%

$31.7 billion, lowest in 3 years

Includes offsetting receipts.

Energy

⬇︎–5.6%

$28 billion, lowest in 5 years

Justice

⬇︎–3.8%

$27.7 billion, lowest in 3 years

Does not include offsets from mandatory spending changes.

NASA

⬇︎–0.8%

$19.1 billion, lowest in 3 years

Agriculture

⬇︎–21%

$17.9 billion, lowest in at least 40 years

Excludes the Food for Peace Title II Grant, which is included in the State Department budget.

The discretionary portion of the U.S.D.A. budget would see a historic cut, to its lowest levels since at least the 1970s. It makes up less than 20 percent of the agency’s overall budget, because it does not include funding for programs like food stamps and crop insurance.

Transportation

⬇︎–17%

$16.2 billion, lowest in 18 years

Treasury

⬇︎–4.1%

$12.1 billion, lowest in 21 years

Does not include offsets from mandatory spending changes.

Interior

⬇︎–12%

$11.6 billion, lowest in 21 years

Labor

⬇︎–21%

$9.6 billion, lowest in at least 40 years

The Department of Labor would be cut to its lowest level since at least the 1970s.

Commerce

⬇︎–16%

$7.8 billion, lowest in 7 years

Environmental Protection Agency

⬇︎–31%

$5.7 billion, lowest ever

The E.P.A. would face one of the steepest reductions. The agency’s proposed budget would be the smallest since it was formed in 1970.

Note: In addition to its proposals for the 2018 fiscal year, the president’s budget gives estimates for 2017 spending under current law. It includes in its estimates a budget maneuver in which money classified as “mandatory” is reduced in order to offset discretionary spending. This money is not included in the historical data, which may explain gaps between the 2016 and 2017 data for some agencies.